


The Golden Wand

by lahdolphin



Series: Prince of Quidditch [2]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 04:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5444183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lahdolphin/pseuds/lahdolphin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The wand chooses the wizard and this wand is picky. Well, want to find out if you’re chosen?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Golden Wand

**Author's Note:**

> This is a side-story to PoQ and the Eagle's Scroll but the two are independent. In PoT canon, Shiraishi is given a golden gauntlet by his coach, Watanabe, and I figured that would translate to a wand in PoQ. 
> 
> Recap: Shiraishi is in Hufflepuff. Watanabe is the Charms professor and the Hufflepuff head of house.

In spring of third year, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs peeled off their winter clothes as they prepared to leave Charms. While the flowers bloomed outside and spring rains turned grassy hills to muddy slopes, they were inside wearing scarves and gloves. They had been practicing the Freezing Charm, and Professor Watanabe had instructed them to bundle up or he’d have to send them to the Hospital Wing with frostbite.

Shiraishi walked along side Hitouji from Slytherin as they left the classroom.

“Shiraishi! Come with me to my office!” Professor Watanabe called out. 

Hitouji smiled, said, “I’ll miss you, Shiraishi; I’ll keep your seat warm!” and went ahead.

Shiraishi waited by the door for his professor, who stretched and walked with a slouch back to his office down the hall. They approached a gilded door, which Professor Watanabe opened with a flick of his wand.

“Make yourself at home,” Professor Watanabe told him as they entered his office, which was, quite frankly, a disaster.

Besides his desk that cluttered with books and papers that had yet to be graded, there were several plush yellow armchairs. Shiraishi suspected that the head of house had stolen them from the common room, as they were identical to the chairs in front of the fireplace.  

The Charms professor also had historical pieces from mismatching time periods and a story to go with each of them. There was a glistening suit of armor (“Yukimura went and burned that so I had the fourth years fix it up”), flamboyant feathers that everyone presumed were illegal (“My auror friend brought them back from his trip to South America”), a collection of strange dolls (“Cursed objects, got them cheap at Borgin and Burkes; don’t look the red-head in the eyes or you’ll go blind”), and many other oddities.

“Mind if I smoke? Ah, of course you don’t.”

Professor Watanabe pulled a long wooden pipe from his desk. He sparked the end with his wand, puffing to get whatever he had packed into the end burning. It smelled sweet and heavy, like sugar just about to burn. The smoke was the color of pale sunlight instead of white or gray. 

He sat in his windowsill that overlooked the Great Lake and blew out smoke rings. Shiraishi chose his favorite armchair next to the suit of armor. 

“How about a story?” Professor Watanabe said.

“You called me into your office for a story?” Shiraishi said, but he was in no hurry. He wondered if Professor Watanabe had pitched any sweets from the house elves in the kitchens recently, and if he'd be willing to share.  

Professor Watanabe began his story without acknowledging Shiraishi, “King Midas was the man with a golden touch. To muggles, he's more of a myth than a historical figure, but there's proof he existed in magical history. He was a wizard, in fact, an alchemist. The Leventis family in Greece are direct descendants. Anyways."

He blew several rings of smoke before continuing. 

"Legend says that when King Midas died, his advisor and dear friend took one of his bones, carved it into the shape of a wand, and dipped it into gold. He used the gold-covered bone as a wand in memory of his late king. They say it’s one of the most powerful historical wands, right up there with the best of ‘em—Merlin’s wand, Morgan le Fay’s, Helga Hufflepuff’s, and the Elder Wand.”

Shiraishi’s eyes widened. That was quite a story, even if he had no idea where his professor was going with this. 

“If you believe in legends, that is,” Professor Watanabe said.

“Can bone even be used as a core? Can a metal replace wood?”

Professor Watanabe tipped the brim of his hat and grinned. “Want to find out?”

“You have it?” Shiraishi asked.

Professor Watanabe snuffed out his pipe. He opened the cabinet in the corner of the room, squatting down to reach at the bottom shelves.

Shiraishi was out of his chair and following Professor Watanabe to his cabinet. There were tins of cookies from the kitchen, spare robes, and a handful of strange looking chests.

“How did you get it?” Shiraishi asked.

“Oh, I picked it up awhile ago, right after graduating.”

Shiraishi had asked how, not when. 

Professor Watanabe rose, brushed aside the scrolls of students’ homework on his desk, and set down a wooden chest with a heavy iron lock. 

“You got it when you went gambling, didn’t you?”

Professor Watanabe made a dramatic show of pulling his wand from his robes. (He got it from gambling.) With a flick of his wand and no doubt a non-verbal spell, the lock twisted and the chest popped open. Sitting inside on a pillow of green velvet was a golden wand, glowing in the midday sun that streamed in through the windows. It looked nothing like a bone. 

“The wand chooses the wizard and this wand is picky,” Professor Watanabe said. “Every once in awhile, I’ll see a student with talent and I’ll show them the wand. So far, no luck. It even turned down Sanada!” 

Shiraishi frowned. Sanada got to see this before him? He hadn’t known that Professor Watanabe thought so highly of him.

“Ah, no, not your classmate Sanada. I meant his older brother, Akiteru, the Head Boy."

Shiraishi frowned, thinking. "If the wand is so strong, why don't you use it, Professor?"

“I wouldn’t know—I can’t pick it up.”

Professor Watanabe wrapped his hand around the wand, pulling up until veins showed on the back of his hand, but the wand did not budge. Shiraishi knew the professor would not put so much effort and energy into acting.

"Legend says that whoever is chosen to wield the wand will think the wand is as light as a feather."

If a charms master like Professor Watanabe could not pick it up, what chance did Shiraishi have? He had just turned fourteen and was only a third year. Why would a legendary wand pick him?

The professor grinned. “Well, want to find out if you’re chosen?”

Shiraishi may not be a Gryffindor with boundless courage, or a Ravenclaw with curiosity to spare, or a greedy Slytherin ready to claim a legendary item. He was a Hufflepuff and he needed to know. 

He reached for the wand.

It was as light as a feather. It warmed in his hand, feeling nothing like metal, and sent tiny tingling sensations up his arm. It shined in his hand until his entire body was bathed in its glow.

It felt like a blessing from the golden king himself.

“Ohhh!” Professor Watanabe sounded as excited as Shiraishi felt.

The light disappeared as quickly as it came, but the wand remained light in his hand.

The professor pivoted, sliding off his desk, and moved to open up the window. He asked, “How about you try it out?”

Smiling widely, Shiraishi hurried over to the window, pointing his wand out into the open. He shouted the first charm that came to mind, “ _Baubillious_!”

A brilliant bright, yellow-white bolt shot from the tip of the wand. Every other time Shiraishi had cast the spell, it was a single bolt, but now the bright bolt split, branching outwards into seven different directions. As the bolt dissipated, it left sparks and smoke in its wake.

“Feel free to keep that until you graduate from Hogwarts," Professor Watanabe said. "It’s no good just sitting in my office.”

Shiraishi had a look of ecstasy written all over his face.


End file.
